Iraqi Gay Bashing

Gay Iraqis? Well, of course there are gay Iraqis. It's simply a matter of percentages. Does anyone really think that war, organized (or disorganized) religion, poverty or general chaos has any impact on an individual's sexual orientation? I'm not a student of the Koran but I'm fairly certain that clerics will find a passage or two to make sure that they can gin up religious adherents to run out and identify, threaten, beat and kill men and women who have the audacity to be who they are.

Germany was pretty good at this sort of thing in the lead-up to and during WWII (this, by the way, is the origin of the pink triangle (worn by gays in concentration camps) that became an international symbol of the gay civil rights movement, long before the rainbow flag. The United States has had its own witch hunts, beatings and murders that still happen in the country that is often characterized as the leader of the free world.

The United States has made progress, some political and a great deal based on families and friends who have loved ones who are gay and lesbian and refuse to sanction this sort of discrimination. Even so, the gay marriage issue continues to divide the country and probably will for years to come.

But what about the Iraqis? We ought to be air lifting these people out that country and granting them polititcal asylum in the United States, Canada and other friendlier countries, if they choose to leave. Those who stay behind are looking at years - even decades - before they can walk down a street without worrying every minute that they will be beaten or killed. I am not at all optimistic that even President Obama can do much to deal with this issue. I hope I am wrong about that.

Whatever your opinion on same-sex marriage in the U.S. we should all be able to agree that truly civilized societies do not kill people over sexual orientation. It's not enough to say that Iraq has been prevented from establishing a normal civil society because of the destruction of war. It's not the only test, but a good test of whether a society is healthy is how it treats its minorities.

I am not ignoring the plight of women, whose civil and human rights are violated every day, all over the world. If that is an issue that you work on, keep doing it. It is just as important because the root of the problem is the same. When governments fail to use all of their resources to protect the most vulnerable of their citizens, they cannot claim that their societies are truly free.

The Iowa Supreme Court got it right when it said that even in the United States, lesbians and gays do not have the kind of political power that excuses the courts from scrutinizing their fight for civil rights in the way that they do when they evaluate claims of women and racial and ethnic minorities.

It's about time that we really acted like we're the leader of the free world. Work hard to show that we don't tolerate discrimination and don't be shy about calling on other nations to do the same.